Thanks to everyone who has sent their well wishes for my new role; and to those of you who have contacted me for a personal or professional chat. I am out of the office for the next couple of days, but I will get back to you. In the meantime, if you are in that funk that I spoke about yesterday, think about finding yourself a coach who can ask you questions to help you to work out what you want and how you’ll get it. That might be your career counsellor, or you might prefer someone external and neutral. I’m lucky to be a coach myself, with many coaching contacts, so I was able to barter for my coaching, but given where I am now – out of the funk, and as someone put it, regaining my sparkle and sunbeaminess, I would have paid a lot of money to get to this point.
So back to the story.
Good transitions are a result of well-managed closures and beginnings, and knowing that there will be icky stuff in the no-man’s land in between. This happens with any change, whether it’s one you’ve chosen or not. So who was going to manage my ending and beginning? I have to admit that for a fleeting moment, I went into child mode, and expected my old and new bosses to manage them. But I grew up, and realised that I needed to be the adult here, especially given that my personality is all about order and structure and I knew that neither my old or new boss were as particular as me about clean endings and beginnings. I know, I know, it’s impossible to be totally clean when you are transferring within the organization – it’s not as though you have a date when you leave the company and the role for good and no-one can contact you. But it was important for me to have boundaries, otherwise I knew that I would go mad.
So I started off by sharing some dates with my old boss and new boss. The date by which I would complete my transition plan, the date I would officially role off my old job and into my new, the dates when I would do my handover to Amit, my replacement. I got agreement and then planned to meet those commitments.
I also requested a week from my new boss to plan my orientation, do some reading, complete some training that I’d been wanting to take for some time, do some filing and other general house-keeping stuff so clear the clutter. I needed that space in between finishing the old role and starting the new. That week was invaluable to me, as it gave me time to breathe, time to reflect.
Monday is the day that I have committed to be fully in my new role. I am ready and eager now, having got great closure on my old job.
So let’s look at that closure. What did I do? First, I worked out which projects I was going to finish off and which I would hand over. That helped me to manage my own expectations of myself. I am a completer, finisher, and it really was hard to let go of some of the things that I had no way of finishing in that last month. I had invested so much into them already, but I had to keep telling myself that I am not the only one who can do this. Little by little, I got more comfortable with that.
I already mentioned my transition plan – documenting everything in my domain. That was tough, capturing the story behind the spreadsheet of info. But the verbal handovers to Amit helped, I think, to bring it to life. Only he can tell you whether that bit was successful of course. We contracted at the start for what we both needed from the transition. For example, I said that I will be around after the transition for questions that only I can answer. I want to be helpful of course, but I also need to give time and energy to my new job, so making that clear is important I think. There are others in the organization who can help Amit with our processes and culture – he doesn’t need me for that. So Amit and I had 10 days for Amit to ask me to clarify things that I hadn’t captured on paper. I now feel so much better handing over my “baby”. That sense of loss, so inevitable in times of change, has waned. Amit asked so many great questions, that assured me that he has the background to treat that baby well. This was all good learning for me that this people management domain is no longer a baby. She is a teenager, ready to leave the nest, ready to make new acquaintances, ready to grow as a result. I’ve done what I could to raise her and nurture her, and now she needs new people around her to help her grow. I know, that all sounds really twee, but it was important for me to recognise this so that I could let go.
So today, on the last day of my handover to Amit, I’ll summarise where we are for my old boss, so we all know where we’ve ended up. Sure, there are a couple of loose ends that I’ll keep an eye on, but really only a few small things. Phew.
I also completed my self-assessment as part of my closure. I always spend a lot of time on that each year, as it helps me to feel a sense of achievement, as well as hopefully giving my boss good fodder for the laddering process. This year felt a little different, as it was not just the assessment of the year, but a recognition of all that I had achieved in the last seven years in the role. Another good way of drawing a close for myself.
In my final week, I thanked the people who had helped me to be successful, too many to mention here, but you all know who you are, so thank you again from the bottom of my heart. I know we’ll still talk and work together, in different ways.
And of course, I celebrated the ending with my family and friends, and I treated myself to a massage. We also went on holiday for some well-earned rest and recuperation. A good break between one job and the next.
Now what about my new beginning. Another celebration to mark the occasion! Marking endings and beginnings is so crucial I find, for our mental well-being. As is recognising the small wins as you start to do new things. I need to remind myself to give myself pats on the back in these first few months as things seem hard to do.
It’s early days of course, but I am feeling good about how I am managing the ramp up. I re-read a great book that I had come across a few years ago, called The First 90 Days, which helped me to list out all the things I need to know, do and be to be successful in this new role. From that, I created my own orientation plan. Who I need to speak to, what questions to ask, how to have quick wins etc. I recommend it to anyone going through a transition.
My plan is to write every now and again about my new beginning and the journey that Bob (my new boss) and I go through. We’ve worked together for a number of years, but he’s never been my boss before, so we need to keep our lines of communication open and not make assumptions that we know what the other is thinking or feeling. We have many values that are alike, which helps. But we’re also very different personalities. I already told you about my need for structure, where he is more spontaneous. He is great at making connections between things, where I notice the black and white things in front of me more. He is very creative. I want to be! So we will complement each other massively; and we both recognise that we need to be honest with each other when things are not working. Watch this space to see how we get on. I’m hoping that he’ll “tag-blog” with me (that’s my new made-up word for the day, like tag-teaming), so you can hear his side of the story too. Bob, that’s your prompt.
So with this blog post, I am drawing one chapter to a close and starting a new chapter. How will my story shape up? I’m making a promise to myself to make the story be what I want it to be. I’ll tell you more about that next week some time.
In closing, let me reiterate that if you are going through a transition, think about what you can do to manage the closure and the beginning. And not just the tasks, but the emotions too. Be honest with yourself about what you are facing and work out how to work through those emotions. It’s a tough time. I went through a low point last week, as I kept thinking “what have I done?” And I’ve felt icky about the no-man’s land in the middle, where I was neither in my old role nor fully into my new one. Journaling and coaching have helped me through. What will you do to help you through your transition?
